Real Music, Real Artists, Real Opinions

Menu

Category Archives: Tour Dates

Named Collaborative Partner with the San Francisco Symphony, Adds 2019 Worldwide Performances of Immersive Work on Robert Mapplethorpe Triptych (Eyes of One on Another). (Above photo by Anne Mie Dreves.)

By Blurt Staff

This just in from the Bryce Dessner camp:

Situated somewhere between erotic heat and cool classicism, the work of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe obliterates the high-low divide, exploding classical conceptions of beauty.

Fueled by a lifelong fascination with the artist’s transgressive, sacred-profane vision, composer Bryce Dessner, in collaboration with librettist Korde Arrington Tuttle and directors Daniel Fish and Ashley Tata, invites us to experience these arresting images anew. Featuring photographic projections and a new score by Dessner, with poetry by Tuttle, Essex Hemphill and Patti Smith, along with adaring eight-person vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth and a 12-piece chamber orchestra, the multimedia work Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)examines how we look and are looked at, bringing us face to face with our innermost desires, fears, and humanity.

Produced by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann,the concert version of Triptych (Eyes of One on Another) will have its world premiere March 5, 2019 with the LA Phil, and the world premiere of the theatrical version will be March 16-17, 2019 with the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, MI. Additional performances include March 22, 2019 at Big Ears, Knoxville, TN, April 6, 2019 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ newly minted Direct Current festival in DC, June 6-8 at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House and the Canadian premiere on June 22 as part of Toronto’s Luminato, following the European premiere at Holland Festival in Amsterdam on June 17. Additional worldwide engagements in 2019-20 will be confirmed in North America, Europe, Australia and beyond.

With a handful of summer European festival dates – as massive open-air festival “rehearsals,” so to speak – under their belts, the 50th anniversary tour of the legendary MC5 really gets under way this fall in North America, starting in early September and running through late October for what will be a triumphant homecoming show in Detroit for mainman Wayne Kramer. He’s calling his band the MC50 and he’s joined by Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayll, Fugazi drummer Brendon Canty, Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, and Zen Guerrilla frontman Marcus Durant, with original 5 drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson slated to sit in at various points during the tour.

Meanwhile, as previously announced, special guests on select dates will include Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli, Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, and Was (Not Was) mainman Don Was. And with opening acts including Man Or Astro-man?, the Detroit Cobras, and Starcrawler (more tba), the shows, primarily at large clubs and medium sized theaters along with a few festivals, are predicted to routinely sell out. (September 8 sees the band playing in BLURT’s home base of Raleigh, NC, at the annual Hopscotch Music Festival) – and, intriguingly, the band’s showcase, which includes Liz Phair, Speedy Ortiz, and Zack Mexico, is also an individually ticketed concert that has just gone on sale to the public).

After the tour of North America, the MC50 heads back to Europe (link at the top). Here are the fall N.A. tour dates:

This is no BS – Belle & Sebastian arrive in America on June 5 for a monthlong North Amerian tour that will include 17 shows in the US, Canada, and Mexico, ultimately finishing off in Portland, OR, on June 30. It follows a May tour of Australia plus the Primavera Sound Festival in Spain and is in support of the new How To Solve Our Human Problems set of 3 EPs. Below, check out the tour itinerary as well as brand new video for Problems track “Poor Boy.”

Much-loved NC outfit playing multiple sets during the annual festival; interview in the works.

By Blurt Staff

We would be remiss in not posting the details of fellow Carolinians The Veldt’s Austin excursion this week to SXSW where the indie rock/psych-shoegaze/Afro-futurists will be performing multiple shows. And yes, the venerable outfit, whose legacy stretches back to the early ’90s, is indeed part of the roster of Schoolkids Records, BLURT’s sister company.

Full disclosure aside, you can turn to our review of the group’s most recent effort, 2017’s Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur: The Drake Revolution EP, which we reviewed thusly:

Given The Veldt’s success in breaking down barriers and bringing a distinctive blackness to indie rock realms, a five song EP seems a much too modest offering. Having flirted with major label credence for the better part of the past 30 years, The Veldt, unlike various other black artists (Living Color, Sly & the Family Stone, et. al.) never made crossing over a priority. Rather, they’ve always been content with fusing ambiance with attitude, creating a subliminal sound that owes much of its influence to the cosmic trappings of the Cocteau Twins and the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Then again, it’s what one might expect from a foursome that borrowed its handle from a Ray Bradbury sci-fi story. The lack of sonic stereotypes notwithstanding, the impossibly long-winded title of their latest opus testifies to the fact that they’re still intent on defying any and all preconceived notions having to do with mood and modality. “One Day Out of Life,” “In a Quiet Room” and “Token” glide by on currents of synthesized set-ups, creating glistening soundscapes as aural additives in the process. Despite some occasionally ominous overtones, the vocals glisten with warmth and assurance, offering the impression that they emanate from a heavenly choir.

Ambition aside, it’s a soothing set from beginning to end, and if there’s little change in tone or treatment throughout, it simply serves to keep the consistency. Consider it a soulful sway through a celestial space.

Check out the band’s itinerary during SXSW, below, and you can get complete details and updates at their Facebook page. Watch this space for an exclusive interview with co-founder Daniel Chavis very soon…

After a (cough) semi-busy 2017, releasing five (5, count ’em) albums, Aussie psych monsters King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are now prepping a followup tour of North America slated to begin at the end of May. Presumably, that will give them time to release 2 or 3 more records…

Recall that in 2010, French released a memoir, Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic, and that his 2008 solo album City of Refuge featured fellow MB alumni and that he has mounted several MB tours in recent years. French is quoted in the article:

“I’m working on US dates but I’m also planning an extension into Europe from the UK. I haven’t locked in a keyboardist yet, as Brian Havey has gotten very busy and won’t be able to make it. I don’t think that this music was really his cup of tea, anyway.”

As part of their “farewell tour” the Magic Band will be playing in Nottingham, England, this coming weekend, with more listed online. According to their Facebook page, the lineup currently is:

Tyler Childers released his debut album “Purgatory” last month and after its drop it has received nothing but positive reviews, and it should. Deep within the Kentucky mountains, Tyler is from a small county in Kentucky with a population just around 15,000 people. “Purgatory” is the album that tells the story of his life in those mountains. With production help from Grammy award-winning Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson, the songs—about drug fueled nights where you wake up in the morning with a shiner on your eye—will make you feel like you and Tyler were as thick as thieves.

In the past couple of years the Americana market has surged with acts like Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell. Tyler Childers should be an act to follow those acts as they take over what many country artists cannot relate to. The actual walk-the-walk mentality is in Childers’ songs, and you can hear it throughout the entire album.

“Get me drinkin’ that moonshine/ Get me higher than the grocery bill/ Take my troubles to the highwall/ Throw ‘em in the river and get your fill”

Tyler Childers is currently on tour with Colter Wall, and with the two of them selling out venue after venue. Coming up this week are dates in Charlotte, Carrboro, and Gallipolis, OH. Worth noting: in October, Tyler will be holding down a residency where he will be playing three nights at The Burl in Lexington, Kentucky, all making for an unstoppable evening of songs that will leave you drunk off country music—and possibly moonshine.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

September 20th – Charlotte at Neighborhood Theatre *
September 21st – Carrboro at Cat’s Cradle Back Room (Sold Out) *
September 23rd – River Rat Beer and Music Festival, Gallipolis OH
September 24th – Hazard, KY at The Forum +
September 25th – Nashville, TN at The Basement (Sold Out)
September 28th – Columbus, OH at Newport Music Hall *

Guitarist Jimmy Herring embarks on the next chapter of his storied career with the debut of the new band, The Invisible Whip. As a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit, Project Z, and Jazz is Dead – in addition to playing with everyone from The Allman Brothers Band to The Dead to Phil Lesh and Friends – Herring made an indelible impact on improvised music. He currently serves as the lead guitarist for Widespread Panic – you may have heard of ’em.

In fact, Jimmy has been touring consistently with Widespread Panic over the past decade, along with short tours with Aquarium Rescue Unit (Col. Bruce Hampton, R.I.P.), Phil Lesh, and The Ringers, but his 2017 dates with The Invisible Whip mark the first performances of his own music, with his own band, in nearly five years. The upcoming dates will include new music Herring is currently working on, plus material from his last two albums, Lifeboat (2008) and Subject to Change Without Notice (2012). Among the concerts include appearances with John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension, whose leader is one of Herring’s musical inspirations and, uniquely, also one of Herring’s most prominent champions.

Composed of longtime friends and musical collaborators, The Invisible Whip, named for the intangible musical force that fuels them, is a nod to their time spent playing with Col. Bruce Hampton – who has made a lifelong impact on the members of the band. Members of The Invisible Whip are drummer Jeff Sipe (aka Apt Q258), Matt Slocum on B3 organ and clavinet, bassist Kevin Scott and multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby on Fender Rhodes, piano and violin.

No truth to the rumor the band will be opening on the summer 2017 Banana Splits reunion tour, however.

By Blurt Staff

If you’re not familiar with the Dexateens, you will be in a moment. These rock ‘n’ roll primates aren’t just aping popular styles and trendy fads—they’re positively simian in their approach to music. Hailing from the urban zoo of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the band serves up a Southern brew of garage punk and dirt-road boogie, and it’s no surprise that they got started on the legendary Estrus Records label, going on to work with the likes of Patterson Hood and David Barbe as well as Tim Kerr – no strangers to primal primate sounds. They took a hiatus from 2010 to 2013—go here to read a review of their 5-out-of-5-stars record from that comeback year—but since then it’s been full speed ahead.

Here’s a fresh taste:

According to guitarist Elliott McPherson, “The song is about going to church as a child, hitting puberty and getting obsessed with the bad girl on the back pew. The moral of the story is that sometimes the church itself can become a place where the evils of the world can creep in and contaminate what is supposed to be a righteous experience….. and that maybe the true church is the act of genuine love and not a place with doors.”

Boy howdy to that. Look for 2016’s Teenage Hallelujah in fine stores everywhere, and keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Stars In Bars. The band is touring (in Tupelo tonight, in fact), and you can find out more about ‘em at their official website. Trust us, they are no chimps, er, we mean, chumps.

THE BLURT JAZZ DESK

ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAZZ FANS!
Join Bill “Musoscribe” Kopp for a look at the jazz world – past, present, and yet-to-come, via interviews, essays, and reviews of new releases and archival titles.GO HEREfor full details, along with direct links to this exclusive content. Most recently: #11, seven recent releases from MPS, Modern Harmonic, Varese Sarabande, and North Texas Jazz.

MUSIC FOR THE EARS / MOVIES FOR THE EYES

MOVIE THOUGHTSJoin our man in the balcony, Daniel Matti, who knows of what he views.Go HEREto read the latest reviews and updates. Most recently: Top 10 Films of 2017, including The Disaster Artist, Good Time, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.